I dived after the little bird, making full use of the strength I had been gaining since my incarnation, and slowly but surely gained ground. it wasn't enough. We both flew rapidly towards a cloudbank that crackled and buzzed as the mana gathered rapidly, one chasing the other, hellbent on saving the poor misguided bird from killing itself in its foolishness. and I did manage to close the distance, I was just shy from it, my beak almost able to reach its tailfeathers... but I had run out of time. the gathering bolt erupted and sprung from its cloud at a speed unfathomable to my poor eyes, and I had lost my chance to push the little birdy away from the danger and coral it to safety.
but there was still one more option, and I was planning to do something along these line soon anyway so at the very least this way I wouldn't be paralysed with fear when the time came. the decision was made, which meant I kept flying even as the bolt came down, and I used my body to shield the little petrel beneath me. Just in time for the world to be erased by a white light that shimmered with all the colours of the rainbow.
And I could feel it scorching through my entire body, Mana, that stuff I was so desperate to obtain for myself, just because of all of the beloved fantasy novels I had read in my childhood. Magic would make me special, would make me unique, and make me wanted. If I had magic I would never fear not having friends around. not that the friends I made back then were that superficial, but I couldn't help the imposter syndrome I always felt back then, the feeling that once I had been seen through I would once again be alone... Well fate had given me mana, and it was more than the billion other earth children both past and future would get, so I should probably be happy to have been granted this opportunity. Even if I could feel it tearing my body into pieces from its foundations, unbearable pain that seemed to occur one screaming molecule at a time. Flesh was destroyed, and then it was built back up again, this time with a wisp of something extra coursing through it, something that I would not have been able to sense had it not been for all the time spent straining every fibre of my being to detect something from the storm as I had watched the strange lightning collapse upon the magic-initiates of the flock, although maybe supplicants might be a better word to describe them.
Skill Gained [Mana Sense]|
Attribute Gained [STR] +3|
Attribute Gained [INT] +3|
Status [Magic Affinity] Unlocked|
Finally the Light started to fade and I realised it was over, I had passed the Trial before me. but panic stricken, I found that despite my best effort, the little one had not.
ashes seemed to drift around me in slow motion, and I saw the little white flame form slowly in the air. Seeing that, something in me seemed to desperately reach towards it, trying to keep it from leaving... and... it seemed to work, the little birds soul seemed to shift it's perception from the skies that called it and over towards me. I don't know what it saw, but it seemed like it was something that made it feel joyful, that drew it in, and instead of heading towards reincarnation as it should have, the littlest bird's soul gathered towards me, before sinking into my breast with a tinkling sound. my perception of time returned to normal, and the renewed actions of the storm reminded me that
all this happened quickly, quickly enough that I hadn't even started to fall yet, because yes, that's right, my body had been paralysed and was twitching from the lightning's current. down we went, and down further, and it was only as I saw a wave of water loom over me that I managed to open my wings and glide, skimming the surface of the ocean and forcing my wings into action enough that I could ascend to rejoin my flock-mates.
as for the little soul I could vaguely feel snuggled close up to my heart, radiating a pure and happy warmth? well we'd think about that when we were safer.
Not long later I met back up with the successful petrels, and I was once agained stunned, while I hadn't counted them previously, there had been at least 25 to 30 of us before the 'baptism by storm' but now... now I could easily count them, after all nine is not a very hard number to reach...
but it seems that the others had expecred such a result, because they seemed far less down than I was, and instead they apeared to be more focused on the positive, they had survived and would be able to be of much more use to the flock in the future. I could forsee that in the future they would face their first evolution and come out the other side looking like the more coulourful petrels I had noted among our nests.
after waiting a little longer, we set off out to the edges of the squall and made for home, where I'm sure the rest of our kin were safe and sound.
The return journey was undoubtably safe and without trouble as no other bird or beast seemed to thrive in the weather as we did. this was fortunate as between the lot of us none could do more than flap their wings and stay in the sky. we all made it home and were welcomed to the sight of little birdy heads sticking out of every hole or crevice the eye could see. it was both adorable and mildly unsettling, that was... until the cheering started- well it was more of a very vocal chorus of 'welcome home' noises- but it was loud enough to almost drown out the storm!
as we got closer birds started splitting off from our little group and heading to their nests, myself included, it was all I could do in the end to pull in my wings as I shot into my cave nest and slammed into the soft bed of twigs, lulled by the warmth of the little soul near my heart into a deep, dreamless sleep.
*****
Supprisingly, this bird was an early one, my body seemed to have fully recovered and was even far stronger than it had been before! but still, I deserved a break, so I sat myself all comfortable-like in my nest and took a few minutes to digest everything that had happened in the last couple of days. sometimes even if the body is full of energy, the mind is bone tired, and this was very much one of those times.
when I felt a little more relaxed and unwound, I decided to examine the little birdie I had somehow caught. I could feel it at all times, like a little spark that rested somewhere deep and very personal inside me, and since I could feel it, maybe I could- yep, first try even!
I basically closed my eyes and cleared my mind a little, focusing on the concept of sinking deep inside myself toward a little flame...
Skill Gained [Meditate]|
Skill Level Up|
Skill Level Up|
Skill Level Up|
Skill Level Up|
I wasn't new to the concept of meditation, personally Zen meditation had always been a on-again-off-again hobby, so I had some confidence and expectation of its in a magical world. Who was right? this gal!
The process was just how I remembered it, but far smoother than before. I could only guess that was the extra INT at work, although I had no idea about how these things were calculated or what my original score would be if brought into the system...
anyway, my mind drew closer to the flame-like soul until it seemed to notice me, whereupon I was bombarded by a rush of feelings that had a similiar... for lack of a better word, 'flavour' as the soul in front of me, feelings of warmth and 'family' flowed by, and I could feel the sincerity in them, I could feel the truth and purity in her thoughts- apparently I could also feel a little part of her personality and charcter traits, so that's right, it was a little she-bird.
The heartmeltingly pure thoughts were followed by another message, a request that I could not understand. there were far too many concepts and feelings smooshed together, I was unable to decipher even a tenth of it, the most I could figure out were 'embrace', 'heart', and 'companions'. naturally, even if you told me it was a terrible idea, I couldn't bear to reject anything this sweet little girl asked of me. since I couldnt get everything in the message, I just winged it, wrapping her up with my 'mind' with illusory wings I had visualised. and as that happened I felt her touch another deep part of me, and felt an odd sensation that was like a mote of something full of mystery leaving its orbit around my soul and sinking into -her name was Myr, I found this out a second later as that mote, waterver it was, had seemed to form a link between us, the energy was simultaneously both within her, and within me, mirroring its counterpart as if they were the very same, passing thoughts and 'energy' between us.
...Anima Consumed|
...Translating Effect|
Spell Learned [Bind Familiar]|
Spell Learned [Soul Link]|
Familiar Gained|